Occasion and Purpose of First John

Tradition: John in Asia

Tradition tells us these Epistles were written to the churches of Roman Asia in the last decade of the first century. Eusebius reports that John governed the churches in Roman Asia, after his return from exile on the island of Patmos. He wrote to those churches associated with the church of Ephesus, where tradition tells us John spent the last years of his life. First John was probably a circular letter from John offering pastoral encouragement to these churches who looked to him as their spiritual guide and teacher.

Occasion: False Teaching

The occasion of John’s writing these Epistles was that certain members of the churches under his care had fallen under the spell of some false teachers. As a result, they and their followers left the church to form their own secessionist group or, to use a modern term, a cult. Evidence for this is found in 1 John itself (2:19). The false teachers are called “deceivers” and “antichrists” (2 John 7).

They have seceded from the church

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1J 2:19).

Although they left, they are still trying to influence the church: “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you” (1J 2:26).

They claim to be Christians

1. “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” (1J 1:6).
2. “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1J 2:4).
3. “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” (1J 2:6).
4. “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother is still in the darkness” (1J 2:9).
5. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother is a liar” (1J 4:20).

Outline of Their Teaching and Its Fruit

First, denial of the incarnation

They denied the historical reality of the incarnation (1 John 4:1-3). This is the heresy known as Docetism, which taught that the human nature of Christ was a mere appearance. Jesus may have appeared in a human form to his disciples, they thought, but the Son of God did not truly become man. They could not comprehend how a particular man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, could be God manifested in the flesh. History and flesh cannot be intermeshed with the divine nature. Deity is above history, above fleshly things like bodies and death. The divine life is something that totally transcends anything belonging to the creaturely realm. But, John says, our hands have handled the eternal Word (1J 1:1)!

• “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son” (1J 2:22).
• “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already” (1J 4:1-3).

Second, the death of Jesus without saving significance

This is closely related to the previous point. If the humanity of Christ was unreal or unimportant, then the death of his human nature is inconsequential. These false teachers did not view salvation as something that God accomplished in history, in space and time through his only begotten Son who entered history. Salvation for them was a matter of having a special spiritual experience, achieving a mystical knowledge of God apart from the dirty, fleshly realities of a historical event. In response, John emphasizes that by his death Jesus atoned for our sins.

• 1 John 1:7: “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
• 1 John 2:2: “He is the propitiation (hilasmos) for our sins.”
• 1 John 3:5: “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”
• 1 John 3:16: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.”
• 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation (hilasmos) for our sins.”

The false teachers did not view salvation as something that God accomplished in history, through his only begotten Son who entered history. Salvation for them was a matter of having a special spiritual experience, achieving a mystical knowledge of God apart from the fleshly realities of a historical event centered upon a particular man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was God manifested in the flesh. History and flesh cannot be intermeshed with the divine. Deity is above history, above fleshly things like death on a cross. The divine life is something that totally transcends anything belonging to the creaturely realm. But John argues the opposite: “This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth” (1J 5:6).

Third, spiritual elitism

The false teachers claimed to have a special knowledge of God not available to the ordinary Christian – they claimed “to know God” (1 John 1:6; 2:4). Although scholars do not think that these false teachers were Gnostics in the technical sense, it is likely that they held similar views which may have later developed into Gnosticism. The Gnostics claimed to possess, special esoteric knowledge (gnosis).

The false teachers also claimed to be without sin (1 John 1:8, 10). Probably this did not mean that they claimed perfection but that regardless of their actual ethical achievements or failures, they were beyond the whole issue of obedience and disobedience by virtue of their special knowledge of God which placed them on a super spiritual plane. For this reason John emphasizes that all unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). Even the sins of the Christian are truly sinful in God's sight and must be cleansed in Christ’s blood.

• “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1J 1:8).
• “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (1J 1:10). They claimed a special knowledge of God (1J 2:4) that placed them on a higher spiritual plane. For this reason, John emphasizes that “all” unrighteousness is sin (1J 5:17). Even the sins of the Christian are truly sinful in God’s sight and must be cleansed in Christ’s blood.

Fourth, lack of love

These false doctrines had practical implications, the most important of which was lack of love for the brethren. Their lack of love was expressed in the fact that they left the church in an act of schism rejecting the fellowship of the apostolic church. Thus their great boast to have a special intimacy with God was belied by their unloving treatment of God’s children.

• 1J 4:7-8: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
• 1J 4:20: “Whoever claims to love God yet hates his brother is a liar.” If they reject the cross of Christ, it is no wonder that they had no love, for love stands at the heart of the Christian faith precisely because the cross, which is the highest demonstration of love, stands at the very heart of the Christian faith. Cross-haters are also Christian-haters. Those who love the cross, love all who love the cross.
• 1J 2:11: “Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness.”
• 1J 3:15: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

John’s Pastoral Response

The secession and the continuing influence of the false teachers has caused the remaining Christians to be unsettled with doubts, so John writes to bolster their assurance. John’s purpose was not primarily to refute the false teachers, but to confirm the believers that remained in their adherence to the orthodox apostolic doctrine concerning the person and work of Christ.

Thus John repeatedly highlights the antithesis between the two views:

• Walking in darkness vs. walking in the light (1 John 2:8-11)
• The children of God vs. the children of the devil (1 John 3:10)
• Cain vs. Abel (1 John 3:12)
• The Spirit of truth vs. the spirit of error (1 John 4:6)

This antithetical stance is easy to mistake for a kind of Puritan approach. The Puritans of the 16th and 17th centuries ministered in the context of a state church in which they had within their parishes a mixture of both believers and unbelievers, but all were baptized members of the church. This anomalous situation led many of the Puritans to make sharp distinctions between the “true believer” and the “carnal professor.” They would attempt to show their people the marks or evidences that would enable someone to determine whether they were one or the other. That isn’t what John is doing. John’s antithetical descriptions are intended to bolster the assurance of his people, an assurance which had been shaken by the denunciations of the seceders. John's flock needed to be assured of their right relationship with God through Christ because the seceders had called it into question. We may surmise that they said things like the following:

• “You don’t really know God as we do” (1 John 2:4)
• “You are in the darkness” (1 John 2:9-11)
• “You don’t have the true anointing” (1 John 2:20)
• “You don’t have eternal life” (1 John 5:12-13)

So how could the believers be sure that it was they, not the seceders, who possessed eternal life? In the face of such radically conflicting religious claims, they needed guidance to be able to distinguish the true from the false, the fool's gold from the authentic treasure. Hence John’s exposition of the antithesis between darkness and light, God and Satan, Christ and Antichrist. It has always been this way from the beginning. In our own day of increasing pluralism the urgency to be able to make such distinctions has never been greater. John warned, "Many deceivers have gone out into the world.” We must test the spirits (1 John 4:1) to see whether they are from God. Do they confess Christ as coming in the flesh?

But we must also test ourselves. Thus, John gives us some very concrete tests of assurance. Faith is not a mystical, indefinable thing but something that is very concrete and tangible. John speaks of keeping God’s commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome (1 John 2:3; 3:23).

John also wants to bolster their assurance which had been shaken as a result of this conflict. They needed to be assured of their right relationship with God through Christ because the secessionists had called it into question. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

John does not erect a series of tests beyond the core truths of the gospel. The great central core of the orthodox Christian faith as summarized in various forms — whether John’s succinct summary (1 John 4:2) or that of the apostles’ creed or the Nicene creed — keep us centered upon the things that matter most:

• The incarnation of the eternal Son of God
• The atoning death of this God-man
• The resulting reconciliation with God and the gift of the Spirit

We must keep our eyes on that central core and not be sidetracked by subordinate points. John makes a great deal out of the command to love. We must love the brethren, that is, we must love all who confess this gospel even if they differ with us on other matters. Love for the brethren is the test of true faith, but it is a love that is grounded in the unity of the faith created by the one, holy, apostolic gospel. John's pastoral instruction calls us to respond in obedience to the gospel — an obedience expressed by confession of faith in Christ as the eternal Son of God who became man for our salvation and by mutual love for one another even as Christ loved us.